MARIJUANA

MARIJUANA IS THE WORD USED TO DESCRIBE the dried flowers, seeds and leaves of the Indian hemp plant.

Hashish is a related form of the drug, made from the resins of the Indian hemp plant. It is tan, brown or black and, when dried, pressed into bars, sticks or balls. On the average, it is six times stronger than marijuana.

Cannabis describes any of the drugs that come from Indian hemp, including marijuana and hashish.

MARIJUANA IS USUALLY SMOKED as a cigarette (called a joint) but may also be smoked in a pipe. It is also mixed with food and eaten, or brewed as tea. Sometimes users open up cigars and remove the tobacco, replacing it with pot; this is called a blunt. Joints and blunts are sometimes laced with other, more powerful drugs, such as crack cocaine or PCP (a powerful hallucinogen).

When a person smokes a joint, he usually feels its effect within minutes. The immediate sensations—increased heart rate, lessened coordination and balance, and a dreamy, unreal state of mind—peak within the first thirty minutes. These short-term effects usually wear off in two to three hours, but they could last longer, depending on how much the user takes, the potency of THC and the presence of other drugs added into the mix.

MARIJUANA, OR WEED, CAN BE CONSUMED as a shredded, dry leafy product or as oil and resin. These last two are sold under the names hash or hashish. Hash may be found in flat cakes. Hash oil is amber or brown and may be sold in small glass bottles.

When you're looking for signs of weed use, you would be looking for small bags of brownish-green leaves that look like herbs, small chunks of a powdery brown substance or very small bottles of amber or brown liquid.

Other signs of weed use are paraphernalia left in a person's room or vehicle. Small pipes, larger complicated water pipes referred to as bongs or hookahs and cigarette-rolling papers or small ends of smoked hand-rolled cigarettes constitute signs of weed use. In states that have legalized medical or recreational marijuana (or nearby states), there may be edibles in the form of cookies, brownies, drinks, candy bars and hard candies.

MARIJUANA'S SHORT-TERM EFFECTS INCLUDE distorted perceptions of time and space, increasing the risk of traffic accidents or personal injury. Difficulty thinking and solving problems can impede learning. And since so many people abusing marijuana are high-school and college age, this effect is particularly significant.

Heavy use of marijuana is linked to mental disturbances, including psychosis and schizophrenia. Chronic use coincides with greater incidence of anxiety and depression. And since marijuana potencies have been increasing for the last two decades, there is a greater chance of adverse mental effects when the drug is abused.

WITH ALL THE PRO-MEDICAL MARIJUANA PUBLICITY and the clamoring for decriminalization of this drug, it can be hard to remember that marijuana is indeed damaging and addictive and causes harmful effects. Though they are not headline news, there are serious and harmful effects associated with abusing marijuana.

But proponents of legalization, decriminalization or medicalization of marijuana do not make this clear to young people so they can make informed choices.

By ranking marijuana in with medical treatments, the clear implication is that the drug is harmless.

THE IMMEDIATE EFFECTS OF TAKING MARIJUANA INCLUDE rapid heartbeat, disorientation and lack of physical coordination, often followed by depression or sleepiness. Some users suffer panic attacks or anxiety.

Marijuana smoke contains 50 percent to 70 percent more cancer-causing substances than tobacco smoke. One major research study reported that a single joint could cause as much damage to the lungs as up to five regular cigarettes smoked one after another. Long-time joint smokers often suffer from bronchitis, an inflammation of the respiratory tract.

The drug can affect more than your physical health. Studies in Australia linked years of heavy marijuana use to brain abnormalities. This is backed up by earlier research on the long-term effects of marijuana, which indicate changes in the brain similar to those caused by long-term abuse of other major drugs.

A number of studies have shown a connection between continued marijuana use and psychosis.

BECAUSE A TOLERANCE BUILDS UP, marijuana can lead users to consume stronger drugs to achieve the same high. When the effects start to wear off, the person may turn to more potent drugs to rid himself of the unwanted conditions that caused him to take marijuana in the first place.

SOME PEOPLE ARGUE THAT MARIJUANA IS NOT ADDICTIVE because it does not have dramatic withdrawal symptoms like alcohol or heroin. But this is simply not true. Because marijuana today is much stronger than it was twenty years ago, severe withdrawal symptoms can occur when a user stops using it.

Remember that the symptoms can be stronger or weaker for the person withdrawing, depending on how much weed he was smoking, how long he was smoking and his own unique physical and mental constitution. For example, some people are much more sensitive to drugs and so get higher on less.

PERHAPS A BETTER MEASURE OF ADDICTION is whether or not the person experiences harm from the use of this drug but is so compelled to use it and the mental cravings for it are so strong that he continues anyway.

According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse, heavy marijuana abuse is associated with the following problems or effects:

LÄÄKKEET OVAT POHJIMMILTAAN MYRKKYJÄ. Vaikutus riippuu otetusta määrästä.

A small amount acts as a stimulant (speeds you up). A greater amount acts as a sedative (slows you down). An even larger amount poisons and can kill.

Tämä pätee kaikkiin lääkkeisiin. Vain vaikutuksen aikaansaamiseksi tarvittava määrä on erilainen.

Monilla lääkkeillä on kuitenkin toinenkin ongelma: ne vaikuttavat suoraan mieleen. Ne voivat vääristää käyttäjän käsitystä siitä, mitä hänen ympärillään tapahtuu. Tämän seurauksena henkilön toiminta voi olla outoa, järjetöntä, sopimatonta ja jopa tuhoisaa.

Huumeet estävät myös kaikki aistimukset, niin toivotut kuin ei-toivotutkin. Vaikka ne siis lievittävät kipua lyhytaikaisesti, ne myös hävittävät kyvyn ja valppauden ja hämärtävät ihmisen ajattelua.

Lääkkeet ovat lääkkeitä, joiden tarkoituksena on saada kehosi toimimaan paremmin nopeuttamalla, hidastamalla tai muuttamalla jotakin kehon toimintatapaa. Joskus ne ovat välttämättömiä. Lääkkeet ovat kuitenkin edelleen huumeita: ne toimivat piristävinä tai rauhoittavina aineina, ja liikaa niitä voi tappaa sinut. Jos lääkkeitä käytetään väärin, ne voivat olla yhtä vaarallisia kuin laittomat huumeet.

NARCONON (TARKOITTAA "EI HUUMAUSAINEITA"). drug- and alcohol-rehabilitation program is open to all who desire to end their addictions and lead productive, drug-free lives. The Narconon program not only addresses the debilitating effects of drug abuse on the mind and body, but also helps resolve why a person turned to drugs in the first place. As a result, tens of thousands have graduated from the Narconon Program to new lives free from drug use.

Huumekuntoutuksen lisäksi Narcononin huumeidenkäytön ehkäisytyöntekijät ovat valistaneet miljoonia koululaisia. Narcononilla on yli viidenkymmenen vuoden kokemus huumekasvatuksesta, ja se on todistetusti ollut tehokas keino pitää nuoret erossa huumeista.